The decision to not include any zombies in Resident Evil 4 was indeed brave, but not stupid, as the enemies instead are varied and interesting. We have just the typical murderous infected human, which could be seen holding a variety of sharp/pain-inflicting items, then we have the humans which walk around with the parasitic, spider-like creature bursting out of their head, and sometimes you get the tough-to-kill chainsaw wielding lunatics with a burlap sack over their heads (don’t let them get close).  Much tougher mini-bosses can include ten-foot-tall giants, with an assortment of twisted as hell bosses to keep you entertained. Surprisingly, you may find the slightly cumbersome controls fit the fast-paced boss battles really well.

            The game also makes good use of interactive cutscenes. You may put the controller down for a second to view an intense movie clip, and then all of a sudden you’ll find Leon being lunged at with a key command blaring on the screen. Most of them you probably won’t get first time, and as a result you will die miserably, but even the cutscenes will keep you on you’re toes, and certain things like being grabbed from behind will require rapid button mashing to shake off the assailant, and certain events in-game can be narrowly avoided by pressing the right button at the right time. Such interactivity is a fine way to constantly feel like you’re playing, even when you don’t think you are! But the interactivity doesn’t end there. Much of the environment can be tinkered with to set-up your ideal gameplay scenario. Whether you want to tip over a table to use as cover from enemy explosives, or knock down and burst open nitrogen tanks to freeze up a ferocious, monstrous sewer-dwelling beast, the power is all yours… 

But wait. There’s one last piece in the puzzle: Ashley, the President’s daughter. You don’t spend the whole game chasing after her. In fact, she’s there by your side for quite a bit of it. She is almost utterly, utterly useless, but that makes for some intense and heart-pounding escort situations. The enemy will carry her off kicking and screaming if you give them the chance, so you really want to protect her all you can. Also, you don’t particularly want her to get hurt either, as it would force you to spare health items on her. So love her or hate her, there’s plenty of good reasons to save her worthless ass. Some may find the whole escort feature annoying, but personally, the only thing I find annoying is how uncooperative her AI is. She won’t even fight back or run, she just stands there. You can give commands to make Ashley ‘wait’ or ‘follow’ when you want, and when waiting, she’ll do exactly that. Wait. Wait for something to walk right up to her and take her without even putting up much of a struggle. And when following, she’ll follow you relentlessly, regardless of whether you’re being swarmed by twenty odd killer infected lunatics. Well, you’ll be relieved to know that she comes and goes as the plot goes on, mostly as a result of being captured through cutscenes, only to have to go and find her again (sigh).

      Resident Evil 4 is not only considered to be one of the best games on the Gamecube and PS2, but one of the best and most innovative modern games ever. It is certain that Capcom dropped a lot of the ‘survival’ aspects since RE4, which was more apparent in its predecessors where you had to cling onto every single bullet, herb and defence weapon you could find. The game is instead much more action based, but the horror is still there, and the gameplay has been made much more approachable. Games series which weren’t primarily action-heavy are becoming so constantly, much to the dismay of hardcore fans, but much to the satisfaction of the general blood-lusting, lead-loving mainstream action game veterans. Did the lean towards action pay off with Resident Evil? Quite possibly, but regardless, the innovations in camera, interactivity and controls without a doubt outdo the series’ previous titles, even if it's at the expense of demanding escort tasks and Ashley's relentless cries for help. Its phenomenal success as part of its critically acclaimed franchise and as part of the entire video game spectrum is unquestionably one of Capcom’s greatest achievements, and in my opinion, it really put Resident Evil on the map.